Mod Post: Off Topic Tuesday

[icon_uk]

In the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like. Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.

Welp, we had that election in the UK didn't we and, after nine years of Tory rule, government mandated austerity measures, the Brexit fiasco, record levels of child poverty, a shameful rise in the number of people needing to use food banks and creeping privatisation of the NHS, the Tories STILL won by a ****ing landslide, with Boris Johnson with a large and so far obedient majority, now empowered for the next five years to do as he will with Brexit and anything else that takes his fancy.

There's a, probably overly timely, turn of phrase about turkey's voting for Christmas I could use here, but I shall refrain.

This was the Oppositions election to lose, and they certainly did, a combination of radical Left Wing policies, a refusal to commit to a stance on Brexit, and an exceptional level of vilification of the Labour Leader in the media (certainly compared to his opponent, who IS the one who has been found guilty of lying on multiple occasions when in positions of power), as well as a lacklustre performance from the Lib-Dems (Who were at least unequivocal on their Brexit stance) led to collapse at the polls.

It might be speaking to soon to state that this may signal the breakup of the United Kingdom, but it's certainly looking more likely than it has in a long, long time.

Sigh...

And in the US, impeachment moves forward for POTUS 45.

Russia has been banned from all worldwide sporting events for continued doping scandals.

India is facing controversy over new citizenship laws which allows the naturalisation of certain persecuted religious groups, provided they aren't Muslim.

China refused to screen an Arsenal vs Manchester City football match following Arsenal player Mesut Ozil spoke out against the Chinese Government's treatment of their Uighur population and the silence of other Muslim groups abpit the matter.

In a desperate effort to lift my mood, I went searching for something to cheer me up that didn't involve impulse purchases, I did find this amazing photo of a couple of mice seemingly involved in fisticuffs on a London Underground platform which is in the Natural History Museum's competition for best nature photo of the year. A browse through that is very soothing I found.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is released this week so we'll see how that goes.

I've been watching the CW Crisis episodes and I have to say it's been fun, with a special nod to the subtle use of recognisable past musical themes throughout, though whilst I could absolutely see why they used BTAS music cues for Kevin Conroy's appearance, given what we know about Earth 99, it seemed a bit... off. (and Superman the Movie theme being used for the grimmer Kingdom Come Earth of Earth-97 probably wouldn't work if Brandon Routh wasn't doing his best Christopher Reeve ever). I'm not up to Jon Cryer's Luthor episodes in Supergirl yet as I'm watching it as it comes out on UK terrestrial, but I hope he's as much fun in those as he is in this.

And we have a trailer for the movie sequel to Digimon Tri; Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (out Feb 2020 in Japan)

Oh, and would there be interest in an event over the festive season event this year? And if so, any suggestions?

Comments

[leahandillyana]

Poland gets so incredibly malicious I don't want to hear about it, but nonetheless I couldn't not hear Polish government blocking EU's pledge to become zero carbon by 2050 (even though we have to import almost all coal we use, including from BLOODY MOZAMBIQUE) and Polish catholic church banning weddings for transgender people, non-catholics and people who don't want to have children.
RWBY s7 weirdly imitates not only its own third season, but also Earth arc from VLD s7, with government working on a big secret spaceship to protect their world and a group of more professional fighters being introduced, with their leader being explicitly a counterpart of Shiro. I find it a weird move, since this particular arc was NOT well liked, to say it mildly. The plot is painfully slow burn compared to earlier seasons.
I was asked not to come to meetings of my queer group because of a comment I made about cementaries (I made sense in context, as all graves in Poland are reused after 50 years if nobody pays for the grave to stay intact.) I kinda got used to losing people now.

[deh_tommy]

I’m sorry to hear that. You’ll always have us if you ever need anything.

I’m rather enjoying RWBY Vol. 7 so far. The humour can be hit or miss, but that’s moving at a nice pace and the new characters and designs are cool. Plus, Watts and Tyrian actually doing something and the welcome return of old characters like FNKI and [REDACTED]!!!OMGAHHH

[owlbrigade1]

Please let it lead to the break up of the UK, please this time finally?

Staying shackled to England was the 2nd worst referendum result in my lifetime. I'm convinced it only happened because all the holiday home owners from sodding London flipped their main residence status to distort the results last time then flipped back. It sucks being England's last colony.

[commodus]

I'm English and hoping for the same thing. I have nothing but respect for the other constituent nations of the UK, but the union was a flawed project from the beginning. How can Wales or Scotland be adequately represented if power is ever concentrated in London? And if that London bubble sees these nations not as equal partners but as vassal states, who does the union benefit?

[scorntx]

Regarding the current situation in British politics:
Ugh.
Just... just ugh.

(About the only silver linings is the SNP's doing as well as they did, the Hideous Scumbag Party gaining nae seats, and the Dead Ringers election special's depiction of Theresa May's reaction.
"You utter. Stupid. BASTARDS." just about covers it.)

[with alarming forced cheer] Anyway!

February? That's sooner that I was expecting.
Oh. And it looks like a case of "second verse, same as the first" after what happened with tri.
Still, they're acknowledging the 02 kids exist. That's nice of them.
Even if they seem to be playing second bananas to Yet More Tai and Matt Angst.
Urrrrrgh...


And after a whole year, Netflix finally added some more Steven Universe on Sunday.
...
They skipped seasons 2 and 3 and went straight to 4 and most of season 5.
With the opening episodes out of order.
I don't know if that's just because of some strange edict from Cartoon Network, or just Netflix being Netflix, but that is a truly impressive level of stupidity right there.


Not normally interested in Big Finish's River Song audio dramas, but apparently there's one where she meets with the Gomez version of The Master, and it sounds like it's... ergh, what's that word again?
Oh, right. Funny.
(Generally not a fan of River, or Big Finish's use of some of the revival characters, which often seem a little along the lines of "well, we've paid for 'em, might as well use 'em!" But... a larf's a larf.
If them boxsets weren't so expensive...)


Also something something Star Wars something grumble something irrational complaint about the sequels etcetera.

[icon_uk]

The "River meets the Master(s)" set is acually excellent, with us getting a chance to see the particular style of malevolence of each Master in turn. (And River not knowing who Missy is and assuming she's the Rani is wonderful)

The Missy set is also really, really good. The initial "Let's get the Mary poppins inversion out of the way early" is pretty impressive, but the one where she (disguised as an eligible maiden ) meet's Rufus Hound's Meddling Monk (disguised as Henry VIII) is an absolute hoot, as they exchange more sarcasic comments than most species could probably withstand. (It's especially impressive when you realise that Michelle Gomez was in the US making "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" and so had to record ALL her lines separately, with voice actress Beth Chalmers playing everyone else, and Chalmers then had to be Missy for everyone else, so they could be spliced togther)

[cainofdreaming]

I did find this amazing photo of a couple of mice seemingly involved in fisticuffs on a London Underground platform

Huh. I didn't even know that mice had loan sharks, much less legbreakers that go around beating other mice up when they don't pay up.

[junipepper]

The SSMRR did not want humans to know any of this, and are currently suing to have the photograph removed from all media. Meanwhile the propaganda department is spreading rumors across various social media platforms that the picture is actually photoshopped.

[cyberghostface]

So HBO’s Watchmen ended. I enjoyed the Veidt story and some of the subplots but at the end it just felt like I was watching expensive fanfic. It felt more earnest and less shameless than Doomsday Clock but that’s not saying much. Also genuinely baffled at suggestions that it’s one of the best shows made this decade when it’s not even the best superhero show of 2019.

[locuatico]

every popular show gets called "the best show of the decade" by someone. It's like how some people say that the latest Marvel movie "is the best marvel movie of them all".
It's a heavily emotional response to the show that will probably be better worded once there was time for it to sink in.

[deh_tommy]

Jumanji: The Next Level was pretty good, in my opinion. Akwafina and the horse that played Cyclone were loads of fun. If I had to complain, I’d say that the Switchblade-Flame subplot went nowhere and I was kind of disappointed in a certain development that happened in the second half, but what that lead to was rather touching and gave Akwafina even more time to shine so I’m torn.

Black Christmas was awful. I loved almost every minute.

[thezmage]

I’m guessing you had the same disappointing development that I had, namely the thing with the water (being vague for spoilers reason)?

If Welcome to the Jungle was an 8, I’d make Next Level a 7.8 or something. I enjoyed it and would be open to more (although the story seems to be largely over already)

[nightauditguy]

Initial reviews for Rise of Skywalker are out and they seem mostly good

[joetuss]

So were the reviews for TLJ.

[janegray]

Very disappointed that I can't watch the Harley Quinn cartoon because the gore makes me nauseous :(

I can deal with Castlevania gore because it's kinda blurry, you see a bunch of blood and vaguely gross-shaped guts and that's about it, it's really not that bad. But the HQ cartoon has "realistic" close ups with shattered bones, needles in eyes, torn flesh... it makes me feel like vomiting.

And it's such a shame! A show about two female characters, extremely competent, sexy but not sexualized, with legit character development and gorgeous animation. I want to watch it! But I really, really can't take that OTT violence.

[kurenai_tenka]

'Very disappointed that I can't watch the Harley Quinn cartoon because the gore makes me nauseous :('

It's actually gory? I've seen some clips but didn't see anything like that, huh. Is it framed in a 'cartoon violence' kinda way?

[sisterofbloomerjunior]

So what happens to Wales if Scotland and Northern Ireland leave?

[owlbrigade1]

Same as now, it is fucked. Although there are enough English settlers in it, enough to sway the Brexit referendum in Wales away from Remain, that it will probably not be given that much of a going over: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/22/english-people-wales-brexit-research.

Actually it is Scotland that is really fucked, at least Northern Ireland can get back in the EU by the backdoor by uniting with the Republic. If Scotland does declare independence from England, then Spain has already gone on record to say it will veto any attempt to join the EU so as to not empower the Catalans again back in Spain. Scotland is stuck being treated as a colony of England, or driven to penury as a small independent European nation that cannot be part of the EU.

I wonder if the SNP will be willing to negotiate some sort of Union with Ireland, or literally anywhere other than our bad neighbours to the south, to get us back into the EU in a way Spain cannot block. God, I hope so.

[kurenai_tenka]

Commiserations, Icon and my fellow UKers! People are so stupid when it comes to voting, it's unbelievable. 'The people who made the mess are definitely the best choice to fix it!!'

[tripodeca113]

Everyone’s second-favourite Sequel Trilogy villain showed up in Star Wars Resistance. Yes, that’s right Hux. And to think in just a few days we’ll get to see him killed by Kylo Ren or be on an exploding ship.

How will Resistance fare now that it doesn’t need to dick around waiting for Rise of Skywalker to come out? Who knows? Personally I blame the poor worldbuilding and lifeless galaxy of the Sequels.

Here are what I consider the most likely to unlikely outcomes for Rise of Skywalker:
1. An acceptable film, with the same flaws and positives as the previous two films. Everyone stops caring about the Sequels about a month later. A video essay comes out a few months after, most people go, fair enough to the points raised.
2. The film alienates people who preferred The Last Jedi
3. The film alienates people who preferred The Force Awakens
4. The film manages to alienate both groups. It distances itself from some elements of The Last Jedi, but includes enough of them to annoy The Force Awakens fans.
5. A confused mess that no one really likes
6. A masterpiece that unites Star Wars fans, and makes audiences realize that all of the Sequels shortcomings, were actually genius writing all along.

[owlbrigade1]

I'll put a fiver on #4.

The 'base is pretty divided now, with both sides entrenched.

[commodus]

As for the Christmas idea. What if we simply have a little informal creative showcase? Some of us here may write, and some of us may draw, and maybe we could do some little Christmas related work concerning our favourite characters?

Just an idea off the top of my head!

[icon_uk]

An interesting idea thanks, though I think we were looking for something a bit more... scans-y.

[stubbleupdate]

I'm late to the party, but I watched Knives out last week.

It was really enjoyable, and has meant that I can't walk past a Krispy Kreme display without giggling

[lissa_quon]

I want to see this so so so badly but - I'm swamped with thing so I won't get to util hell freeze over.

[silverhammerman]

DC has its big end of year sale on Comixology right now, with a bunch of stuff going for $5, so if anyone has any recommendations to throw out, now would seem the best time.

[cainofdreaming]

House of Whispers is nice, if you're into Vertigo style stories.

[spider_man6]

Just wrapped up finals after a mentally exhausting semester. One of them goes through the end of next semester and so I'm still working on it, but at least I have a basis. And my webcomic is now up.

Saw 1917. Fantastic film. The best part of this film is the cinematography, as it's all one-take. This easily should win the Oscar come February, provided no big competition is on the horizon.

Really excited for the Rise of Skywalker. And at this point, I think review culture has become so toxic, so absolute that what really matters is my own opinion of the film. So that's what I'll do.

Also, the new Harley Quinn cartoon is seriously becoming my new favorite animated flick right now. It just keeps getting better each episode.

[llordllama]

Well yes indeed those UK election results - for once I didn't stay up through the night and grabbed a decent night's sleep as I had a feeling I was likely to wake to a nightmare. Man alive, was I sadly right.

That aside, I've signed off all my jobs for Christmas, which means a couple of solid weeks indulging my passion for sleeping, podcast production, gaming and finally reading the stack of books next to my bed. Oh, and watching The Expanse, Jack Ryan and High Castle (the last feeling a bit close to the political knuckle to watch comfortably last week). Oh, and The Witcher once it's out.

Is it odd that I have zero keen for the new Star Wars flick (despite generally enjoying TFA & TLJ)?

[skjam]

Had Toastmasters holiday party last night, got British mince fudge in the white elephant exchange.

Today, the office building sprung for breakfast (egg sandwiches, yogurt and donuts) and my company for lunch (pasta and brownies.) I won a jar of jelly drops with the closest guess to how many there were.

Over at my blog, it was the seventh anniversary, and I looked at the current state of Shonen Jump online. http://www.skjam.com/2019/12/12/manga-review-shonen-jump-2019/

Congratulations!

[sisterofbloomerjunior]

Free food is best food.

I managed to win a Hershey hot cocoa set at our Christmas party.

[kamino_neko]

My Big Week of Appointments is half over and...

The first (the one I was most worried about, since it could have screwed me over royally) went well, but the one I was supposed to have today was cancelled since my NP was out sick. Which...OK I was stressing out over having to do it so I'm slightly relieved, but I was kind of hoping that it could result in not having to do the blood work I have to do on Friday (my scrip for the meds I assume it's to check on never got to the pharmacy)...so...<Anti-Bill Murray>I have that going against me</Anti-Bill Murray>. Having to wait for another couple weeks for the mental health stuff that was supposed to be discussed is not ideal, either, but I've waited this long, I'll live.

[werehawk]

As someone whose earliest comics was the original COIE series, hats off to the CW crew for following through on the crossover. And hats off to them for pulling together all the actors for cameos and roles. I never thought something like this would happen in a million years. Brandon Routh killed it as Superman (which means my disdain for Superman Returns was due to the uncharacteristic characterization by the writers/director - then we got Snyder who went a whole different uncharacteristic way). Anyway, still like Hoechlin a ton though.

If anyone got to Walmart and got the Crisis Giant which has CW-related Crisis stuff, can you help out with scans? my Walmart didn’t have it (or I couldn’t find it).

[mrwalker]

The closest I've come to reading COIE was a Mighty Mouse parody, as a little kid (and I'm pretty sure a lot of even that went over my head), but I'm loving the series.

To icon_uk, yes, Jon was a surprisingly good Lex Luthor in his earlier Supergirl appearances.

I'd say more, but it anyone has remained unspoiled you really ought to check it out!

[werehawk]

I’ve been cleaning and organizing my house and it turns out I have more than 10000 comics. I guess that’s what collecting your whole life (40 years) does.

The series that popped out at me that I had to reread was Strikeforce Morituri. The first 20 issues (by Peter Gillis and Brent Anderson) are still amazing.

[junipepper]

I purchased and wrapped eight Hanukkah presents for my grandpuppy, then found myself looking at this pile of gifts and considering the possibility that I may be slightly psychotic.

Then I called my 87-year old dad and told him I REALLY NEED the Hallmark Keepsake ornament of Yvonne Craig|Batgirl, which turned out to be sold out online, prompting Dad to go traipsing all over New Jersey with a list of Hallmark stores that he (miraculously) managed to generate all by himself from a Google search—so now I feel childish, guilty, AND psychotic.

Happy Goddamn Holidays, all.